Thomas Jordan, Martin Schlegel, Andréa M Maechler: Introductory remarks by the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB, Mr Martin Schlegel, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB, Ms Andréa M Maechler, Member of the Governing Board of the SNB, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Zurich, 22 June 2023.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
22 June 2023
by Thomas Jordan, Martin Schlegel and Andréa M Maechler
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  |  8 pages

Ladies and gentlemen

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the news conference of the Swiss National Bank. I would also like to welcome all those who are joining us today online. After our introductory remarks, we will take questions from journalists as usual. Questions can also be asked by telephone.

Monetary policy decision

I will begin with our monetary policy decision. We have decided to tighten our monetary policy further and to raise the SNB policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.75%. In doing so, we are countering inflationary pressure, which has increased again over the medium term. It cannot be ruled out that additional rises in the SNB policy rate will be necessary to ensure price stability over the medium term. To provide appropriate monetary conditions, we also remain willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary. In the current environment, the focus is on selling foreign currency.

The SNB policy rate change applies from tomorrow, 23 June 2023. Banks' sight deposits held at the SNB will be remunerated at the SNB policy rate of 1.75% up to a certain threshold. Sight deposits above this threshold will be remunerated at an interest rate of 1.25%, and thus still at a discount of 0.5 percentage points relative to the SNB policy rate.

Inflation forecast

I would like to address the development of inflation. Inflation has declined significantly in recent months, and stood at 2.2% in May. This decrease was above all attributable to lower inflation on imported goods, in particular lower prices for oil products and natural gas.